Midnight Cowboy

Pros: Excellent casting, intriguing characters, superb dialogue, pushes the envelope for 1969.
Cons: None.

What does an X-Rated Film from 1969 look like?  Is it possible that an X-Rated film could achieve a five star ratings (from this humble reviewer) or get nominated and win THREE Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay)?  ...

Pros: Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman depicting lives in the late 60's NYC seedy underworld.
Cons: Not much.

The year 1969 was one that, in my mind, was very interesting in its portrayal of social attitudes in a number of movies. A few of films from that year that come to mind were The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, They Shoot Horses Don't They and Easy Rider. The ...

Pros: Hoffman and Voight in the main roles; excellent filming and authentic locales
Cons: Not many

John Schlesinger’s MIDNIGHT COWBOY is widely recognized as being one of the most influential and poignant American films of the 1960s, and rightly so. At a time when America was enveloped in the drug and sex revolution, no film so eloquently captured...

Pros: Wholly original and fairly interesting story; good performances.
Cons: Screenplay is uneven and illogical; direction seems random; too surreal.

"Midnight Cowboy" is a story of a strange attempt at the American Dream gone wrong, which is exactly how the film works. It could have been a great character study and a detailed depiction of the cruelness of reality. However, it tells its story in such ...

Pros: Moments of acting
Cons: Unlikable characters, Lack of plot, Nauseating camera work

I watch a lot of movies and in recent years, I have learned to differentiate the difference between great films with disturbing subject matters that are presented well and movies that are just bad. A great example of a film that is ...

Pros: Content, the performances by Voight and Hoffman
Cons: Dated, portrayal of females, the dream sequences confusing

It's very hard to believe for someone born in 1983 to imagine that back in 1969 "Midnight Cowboy" was rated X. Today it has been lowered to an R standard. I mean "Titanic" had more nudity in it even, but in 1969 there weren't films as...

Pros: pure artistic genius
Cons: dare you to find one

I rarely give five-star ratings. Plus, I'm the kind of gal who likes Meg Ryan movies and Disney cartoons. When a good friend said, "here's a great, seedy movie about a guy who goes to New York to hustle women," I really wasn't looking forward...

Pros: witty, touching, beautiful
Cons: the ending is too sad! *sniffle*

This film follows the attempt of Texan cowboy Joe Buck (Jon Voigt) to find fame and fortune as a gigolo in New York. Quite a seedy ambition, you may think, but Joe's trusting, endearing manner soon make it quite clear that the big city is going to eat...

Pros: Monumental work in cinema history...
Cons: May be too intense for younger audiences...

This one takes us back to a time when there was no such thing as Gay Rights, back to when screen nudity got you an R-rating or worse, back to when Jon Voight was considered a hunk...okay, you get the picture. Schlesinger stuck his neck out so far on this...

Pros: direction, characters, script, cinematography
Cons: downer, not for kids

"Midnight Cowboy" is an excellent film that demonstrates the gap between ambitions and reality, and gives a flavor of what New York City (and rural Texas) was like in the late 1960s. "Midnight Cowboy" was also a landmark film in its...

Pros: Solid acting, dark themes.
Cons: Dated elements.

Until "American Beauty," this was the last "dark" film to win the Best Picture Oscar. Somber, penetrating, and full of desperate characters, this film, despite some dated qualities (the Andy Warhol-inspired party is a glaring...

Pros: Interesting story and characters
Cons: Not for the kiddies

This academy award winning drama was and remains a unique look into New York City's mysterious under belly. It is a unique story, with unique characters, and unique plot twists and turns...I guess you could certainly say it is an unique movie.

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Pros: Amazing actors, fine script, great directing
Cons: Dark, depressing, explicit

Some friends you have because of a shared interest. Some friendships develop by sheer proximity (be around someone long enough and you have no choice but to become friends). And sometimes you become friends with someone because of sheer necessity. You...

Pros: Excellent performances & story - thought-provoking
Cons: Some people just don't get it ...

I first saw "Midnight Cowboy" at a theatre on a double bill with Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant." I was young and impressionable at the time. I may be somewhat older now, but remain highly impressed!

I adore...

Pros: Amazing acting from both stars, unlikely friendship great, ending
Cons: Story, or lack of; Can be hard to follow; flashbacks

"Midnight Cowboy" is one of the films praised by national critics as one of the best movies in history. If there was something incredibly deep about the film, I missed it. I'm not a person who thinks a movie is good because I feel obligated to say so, ...